


The Celestial Girl

by SummerStormFlower



Category: Original Work
Genre: Adoptive family, Adventure, Children, Cute Kids, F/M, Family Fluff, Fantasy, Friendship, Gen, Love, Magic, Mystical Beings, Original Character(s), Other, Outer Space, Romance, chosen family, zodiacs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:21:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 3,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24524536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerStormFlower/pseuds/SummerStormFlower
Summary: One night, a magical sailboat crashes on ordinary city girl Nova's balcony. As it turns out, the sailboat is carrying a child, who's looking for her mother. Nova helps the child fix her boat, then sets sail into space with her to help find the child's mother.
Comments: 12
Kudos: 4





	1. The Sailboat

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Nova. She lived in a city of glowing lights and singing buildings.

One night, she hears a crash outside her bedroom and rushes to see what it is. There’s smoke on the balcony of her apartment, a silvery little light flickering in the grey cloud.

Nova slides open the door and steps into the cool air, like ice on her skin. She scrunches her nose, waving the smoke away. When it finally clears, she sees a broken sailboat laying by her feet.

How odd.

Then Nova hears the sound of a child crying. Crouched between the wall and the barbecue, is a little girl with long silver hair and snowflake skin, glowing like a star.

“Who are you? And what happened to you?” Nova asks the mystic little girl.

“My name is Celeste,” the little girl sniffles, wiping her nose on her sleeve, “I was searching for my mommy when my boat crashed.”

Nova looks up at the sky, then back down at Celeste. The tears on her little face makes Nova’s heart hurt.

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you fix your boat,” she says.

Celeste perks up, her mouth curling in a hopeful smile. Her lips are blue, like the lovely night.

“You will?”

Nova smiles back and nods.

“Thank you,” Celeste says. But then she starts to deflate, her magical glow dimming. “But there’s no way I’ll find my mommy all by myself.”

Nova kneels down and puts her hand on Celeste’s shoulder. “I’ll help you find her,” she promises.

So Nova and Celeste fix up the broken sailboat, then set sail into the starry sky, flying high above the city of glowing lights and singing buildings.

And this is how the search for Celeste’s mother begins.


	2. Harmonious Constellations

Days pass with no sign of Celeste’s mother, or much of anything for that matter. Not even a planet shows up. Instead, asteroids extend as far as the eye can see.

An occasional shooting star zips by.

They stop and lower the sail, so they can have a break. Nova’s arms ache from steering.

“We’ll never find my mommy,” Celeste says sadly, burying her face in her knees. Her starry glow dims when she’s despondent.

“Don’t give up!” Nova says, giving Celeste a nudge. “Only quitters give up!”

“I’m not a quitter!” Celeste snaps, glaring defensively.

Nova smiles. “Then don’t give up. We’ll find your mom.”

Celeste’s glare melts into a grin. “I won’t give up.” Her starry glow brightens when she’s happy.

“How about some lunch?” Nova suggests.

Before they left, she had packed all the essentials; bread, honey, stuffed kitty, and warm coat, to name a few.

While they eat, the float by a collage of shimmering constellations. Celeste stands on the very edge of the boat on her tiptoes, and plucks one of the blue strings.

It makes a musical sound, unlike anything Nova has ever heard.

“How did you do that?” she asks.

“It’s easy. Try it,” Celeste giggles playfully.

Nova reaches out and touches a different string, feeling it vibrate and sparkle under her fingers.

It’s just like a harp.

They strum almost every constellation like a guitar, and even swing on them like vines, laughing all the while. Nova is certain she never wants to stop, but then she remembers their search. As fun as this is, they still have a job to do.

“I think it’s time to go now.”

Celeste dangles with one hand from a bright blue star. “Okay,” she says with a puff of air, and hops back into the boat.

They raise the sail, Celeste grabs the oar, and Nova goes for the helm.

The shimmering constellations fade behind them, and pink, orange, and purple stardust approaches them.


	3. The Zodiacs

After a long day, Nova finds herself fighting sleep. The moon shines down on her, casting its light over her like a warm blanket. Her eyes keep drooping.

However, Celeste is full of energy, jumping from star to star beside the boat.

Nova’s eyes are about to close.

“Look!” Celeste suddenly shouts.

Nova looks up and squints at what Celeste is pointing at. There’s a big colourful fish swimming among the stars, leaving behind a trail of sparkling stardust. Nova is so surprised, she lets go of the helm.

“That’s one of the Zodiacs!” Celeste exclaims, hopping back into the boat.

She climbs up to the very top of the mast and cups her hands around her mouth.

“Pisces!”

Pisces stops and turns towards Celeste’s call. He starts to swim over, clouds of stardust falling off of his rainbow tail.

“Hello Celeste,” he says. His lips don’t move. His voice sounds like an echo.

“Hi,” Celeste says back.

Pisces looks at Nova, then at Celeste again. “Who’s your friend?”

“That’s Nova. She’s helping me look for my mommy,” Celeste explains.

Pisces nods at Nova. Nova gives a little wave.

“Have you seen my mommy?’ Celeste asks.

“No, I haven’t. Sorry,” replies Pisces.

Celeste’s starry glow dims. “Oh,” she says sadly.

“Don’t worry,” Nova tells her, “We’ll find your mom soon.”

Celeste’s glow stays dim.

“I wish you luck,” Pisces says, “I’ll be sure to talk to you mother if I see her. And if you happen to see Gemini, would you tell them I’m looking for them?”

“Sure,” Nova responds.

Pisces smiles at her. “Thank you. Take care.”

With that, he swims away.

Celeste climbs down from the mast, looking at her feet. Nova opens her arms and wraps her in a comforting hug.

“You have stardust in your hair,” she says.

Celeste smiles. “So do you.”

They set sail again. The stubborn stardust doesn’t come out of their hair, no matter what they try.

Then they have another encounter. In the distance, they see a glittering golden lion galloping across the stars.

“That’s Leo!” Celeste exclaims. “Leo!”

Leo stops and turns, gold mane bouncing. He trots over, then sits beside their boat. His eyes are emerald green.

“Hello Celeste,” he says.

“Hi. We saw Pisces a little while ago,” Celeste says.

“You did? He must have gone looking for Gemini too.”

“Have you seen Celeste’s mother?” Nova asks.

Leo shakes his head.

Celeste’s glow dims again.

“If I do see her, I’ll be sure to talk to her,” Leo promises. He leans forward and licks Celeste’s cheek.

Celeste smiles a little and kisses Leo’s nose. “Thank you.”

Leo stands onto all four legs. “I should go now. Oh, if you happen to see Gemini, please tell them to come home.”

With that, Leo gallops away.

Nova and Celeste frown at each other.

“I wonder where Gemini is,” says Celeste.

Nova shrugs. “Maybe we’ll find out.”

After that, they have many more encounters with the rest of the Zodiacs, who’re all looking for Gemini. They meet Aries, Libra, and Scorpio, Aquarius, Virgo, and Cancer, Sagittarius, Capricorn, and Taurus. All of them are worried about Gemini.

“I’m starting to worry about Gemini too,” Nova says, “It sounds like they’ve run away from home.”

“Why would they do that?” Celeste asks.

“Well, I don’t know,” Nova says, “Why don’t we ask them?”

She points to a little green planet. There’s a little boy and girl with blue hair sitting on it. The boy has curly hair. The girl’s hair is straight.

“That’s them!” Celeste exclaims, jumping out of the boat and skipping on the stars. “Gemini!”

The Twins glare at her; both of them have different coloured eyes. “That’s not our name!”

Celeste frowns at them in confusion. “Yes it is!” she argues.

Nova throws the anchor overboard once she’s steered the sailboat beside the little planet.

“No it’s not!” the Twins snap.

Celeste crosses her arms. “Then what is it?” she demands.

“My name’s Lunar,” says the little boy. His left eye is gold and his right is purple.

“I’m Luna,” says the little girl. Her left eye is purple and her right one is gold.

“We’re not just Gemini, we’re separate people,” Lunar and Luna explain, “And we’re tired of the other Zodiacs always lumping us together.”

“Oh,” Celeste says guiltily, uncrossing her arms, “I’m sorry.”

Lunar and Luna sigh.

“It’s okay,” Luna says.

“You didn’t know,” says Lunar.

Nova walks across a trail of stars and kneels down in front of the Twins. “Did you tell the Zodiacs how you felt before you ran away?” she asks.

Lunar and Luna shake their heads, looking stunned at the question.

“I think you should’ve tried that first,” Nova tells them.

“I guess so,” Lunar mumbles, looking shamefully at his feet.

“If we go back now, will they listen to us?” Luna asks, fiddling nervously with her hair.

“Of course they will! They’re your family!” Celeste responds.

“That’s right. Family will always listen to you,” Nova says.

She remembers how her mother always listened to her problems, and how her father always listened to her stories, and how her brother always listened to her ideas.

Lunar and Luna beam.

“Then we can go home!” Luna cries in excitement, jumping to her feet.

Lunar smiles gratefully at Nova and Celeste. “Thank you for your help.”

Nova smiles back and nods. “Get home safely.”

“We will!” Luna promises with a thumbs up.

Then, Lunar and Luna sprout feathery white wings on their feet, and start to fly away.

Celeste gasps. “Wait!”

The Twins turn around.

“Have you seen my mommy?” she asks urgently.

Luna shakes her head sadly. “No. Sorry.”

“But we’ll talk to her if we do,” Lunar says.

“We have to go now. Bye!” They wave goodbye, then fly away again and disappear into the starry distance.

Celeste slumps with disappointment and her glow dims even dimmer than before.

Nova takes her hand and squeezes. “We’ll find your mom. I know we will.”

Celeste frowns uncertainly at her.

“We can’t give up.” Nova puts her hands on her shoulders and looks her in the eye, expression determined.

Slowly, Celeste nods her head.

They pull the anchor up and set sail once more.


	4. The Comet

A light shines on Nova’s sleeping face. Thinking that it’s the sun waking her, Nova sits up to greet it, only to find a teal comet glittering at her.

She shakes Celeste awake. “Let’s check out that comet.”

They sail towards the comet and throw the anchor overboard. Then they descend to the ground, finding that it’s made of ice.

They look and look, but there’s nothing except asteroids and stars.

Nova sighs and sits down with a flop, exhausted.

“You’re sitting on something!”

Nova stands up, peering down at what Celeste is pointing at. Patches of apricots are encased in the ice.

“Yummy!” Celeste exclaims, happily helping herself to the delicious fruit.

Nova gazes at the ground curiously, wiggling her toes. “It’s so warm, even though there’s ice here. There must be water here too.”

They decide to ride the teal comet for awhile.


	5. Flame

One day, Nova notices how long her black hair has grown. It used to frame her shoulders. Now it flows down her back.

How long have they been searching? Days? Months? Years? Nova doesn’t know anymore.

When she goes to bed that night, she dreams about her own mother.

“What are you doing here?” Nova asks.

“I’m seeing how tall you’ve gotten,” her mother replies, “You’ve become such a beautiful woman.”

Nova panics as her mother turns away from her, blue dress swaying without a sound. “Where are you going?”

“Don’t worry, darling,” her mother answers, “I’m not leaving you. I’m with you always, like the sun and the moon.”

Nova tries to touch her mother’s retreating back, but she’s too far away. “What if it starts to rain and I can’t see the sun or the moon?” she asks with tears in her green eyes.

Her mother smiles at her. “I will shine through the clouds until your tears dry.”

Nova wakes up, her cheeks damp.

“What’s wrong?” Celeste asks, waking beside her.

“I miss my mother!” Nova sobs. Her heart aches as she begins to miss her father and brother too. “I miss my family! I’ll never see them again!”

At this, Celeste starts to cry too.

They continue riding the comet through the starry skies, but they never find Celeste’s mother.

Celeste is crestfallen.

“Crying won’t make the rain go away, Celeste,” Nova says.

“I can’t help it!” Celeste hiccups.

Nova places a hand on her shoulder and says gently, “I’ll take care of you from now on.”

With this promise, she feels a small flame spark to life in her heart.


	6. Home

A turquoise comet floats by, sparkling like a big diamond. Nova gets the feeling that it’s a conceited comet. But then she squints and realizes that there’s something on it. Curious, she sails over there to get a closer look.

There are all kinds of things buried in the ground; clothes, furniture, tools, toys.

Nova sighs wistfully. “I’d love to use this stuff to build us a house.”

They can’t sleep in the sailboat forever. Celeste is a growing girl, and Nova misses having a kitchen. Maybe she can borrow some tools if she can find the owner.

Suddenly, a sign pops up out of nowhere.

Recycle Comets Industry  
\- committed to keeping the Solar System clean, we send our special Recycle Comets to each and every planet to collect unwanted items  
\- Recycling Is Caring

Nova grins. “If that’s the case, I can build us a house!”

So Nova crams everything into the sailboat and transports it to the teal comet. Celeste does the light work, like putting the toys in the chest and food in the fridge. Nova builds the walls and rooms, and arranges the furniture.

It takes three days.

Looking at the completed house, Celeste remarks, “It’s awfully big for just us.”

It certainly is spacious; a garage, a playroom, a lounge, a kitchen, library, fountain, balcony, and bedroom. It feels cold.

“Too bad my family isn’t here to live with us,” Nova says sadly.

That night, both Nova and Celeste have trouble falling asleep.


	7. Family

They’re eating lunch on the balcony when a red planet comes into view. From the planet, a little boy, glowing bright red appears.

“Do you know him?” Nova asks Celeste.

Celeste frowns in thought and says, “He looks familiar.”

She walks up to the little boy and leans in towards his face, their noses nearly bumping.

The boy’s lips curl up in a wide smile, then he bursts out laughing.

Celeste pouts, “What’s so funny?”

“You are!” the little boy exclaims gleefully. He grabs his tummy and laughs loudly. “You don’t recognize your own brother!”

Recollection hits Celeste instantly.

“Joshua!”

“No, I’m John! Joshua is over there with everyone else.”

Suddenly, more children begin to emerge from the red planet, in a barrage of glimmering colours, each of them running to hug Celeste.

“Are these all your brothers and sisters?!” Nova asks.

“Yes! Yes! Yes, they are!” Celeste replies happily.

Nova tries to count how many children there are, but there’s just too many!

“Look!” shouts a pink little girl.

There’s a man descending from the stars, shining as bright as the moon.

“Daddy!” Celeste cries, jumping straight into his arms.

The man hugs her close and kisses the top of her head. “My baby girl.”

“I want you to meet someone, Daddy! That’s Nova. She’s really nice!”

Nova meets the man’s eyes. She’s not sure what colour they are, they keep changing.

“She made this beautiful house for us,” Celeste continues, “She’s so wonderful! She plays with me, she tucks me in bed, and she takes good care of me!”

A blue little boy tugs on Nova’s sleeve and asks, “Do you give piggyback rides?”

Then a yellow little boy tugs on her other sleeve. “Do you sing songs?”

A green little girl jumps on her back. “Do you have cake?”

Nova laughs, “Yes to each of those things!”

“Isn’t she wonderful?!” Celeste says.

Nova’s heart swells.

Then the smallest of the children approaches her. Nova bends down to the small girl. She touches Nova’s face curiously, little purple fingers exploring her features.

Nova’s heart swells again when the small girl grins at her.

“Daddy, can we live with Celeste and Nova?” the children ask.

“Our house is too cramped!”

“We can barely fit in it!”

Celeste turns hopefully to her father. “Will you?”

“If that is alright with the mistress,” the man replies, looking questioningly at Nova.

Nova looks down at all the children’s grinning rainbow faces. All of a sudden, she feels her love expand. It’ll be a tight fit at first, but if there’s room in her heart, there’s room in their home.

“Of course it’s alright.”

The children cheer. Nova can’t help but be charmed by the sight and laughs.

Then the man approaches her. “Thank you, Ms. Nova.”

Nova smiles and holds out her hand. “Call me by my name.”

The man shakes her hand. “In that case, call me Orion.”


	8. Dinner

Tiny dining room. Too many kids to count. Three hours until dinnertime.

Nova finds as many chairs as she can, and sets the table with every last dish in the cupboard.

Two hours to go.

She has something cooking on all four burners, as well as desert in the oven. It’s a lot to handle, but she manages by using her hands, feet, teeth, and all ten fingers.

One hour to go.

She turns off the stove, balances dinner to the table, puts desert in the fridge, and grabs all the napkins out of the dispenser.

One minute to go.

Nova hastily chucks off her apron. With an exhausted sigh, she slumps against the wall and wipes her brow. She listens to the clock tick.

Three. Two. One.

The kids sprint into the dining room all at once, laughing excitedly.

“Yummy!” Celeste cries.

“You haven’t even tried it yet,” says Nova.

Celeste looks at her in confusion. “But it’s always yummy!”

Nova laughs.

When Orion comes into the room, he’s surprised.

“How did you get them to sit?”

Nova helps Celeste on her chair, then turns to him. “I don’t know,” she replies sheepishly, “They all just listened.”

Orion looks around like he’s lost. Then when Nova goes to sit, he pulls her chair out for her.

She smiles. “Thank you.” She sits down for the first time in three hours. She yawns, eyes drooping.

“Can we eat?” Celeste asks, fork already in hand.

Nova leans back, smiling tiredly. “Dig in.”

As soon as everyone begins eating, Nova falls asleep.


	9. Love

One night, Nova goes outside and sits in the sailboat. Her little backpack, full of the things she took from her apartment in the city, is still there where she left it. It brings back memories.

She remembers splashing in puddles with her father. She remembers having snowball fights with her brother. She remembers picking flowers with her mother...

Tears spring to Nova’s eyes. “I wish I could see them.”

Her home planet is a mere blue dot in the far away distance.

“But I can’t. I used to be able to feel their hearts beating. But I can’t anymore because... they’re no longer beating.”

Nova wraps her arms around herself and cries.

There’s the sound of footsteps. She looks up. Orion is there.

“Why are you crying?” he asks.

Nova sniffles, drying her face. “I miss my family.”

Orion sits down beside her. “I miss my wife,” he says, “I understand how you feel.”

Nova feels comforted. It’s nice to have a companion who knows what she’s feeling.

“Would you like to... get to know each other?” Orion asks uncertainly, “We can talk. We don’t have to talk. We can take things slowly.”

A warm blush grows on Nova’s cheeks. “Would you like that?"

Orion is a handsome man; he’s tall, his long hair shimmers, and his eyes are so soft.

“I think I would like that,” he says.

Nova nods. “I think I would like that too.”

Their hands brush. Baby steps.


	10. Mother

When Lyra comes into Nova’s world, she gives love a whole new meaning. The kind of joy she brings to Nova’s life is so magical, Nova almost can’t believe it. Yet it’s real. Nova feels it every time she looks down at her baby’s sleeping face.

That night, Nova sends Celeste and her siblings to bed early. Their birthday is tomorrow, and she and Orion are going to bake them a cake. Nova ties her hair back so it won’t fall in the ingredients, then they get to work.

The next day, the children scurry and bounce about, eating cake, opening presents, and laughing with joy.

Nova watches them with love.

“This is my family now. I may not have loved them first, but I love them more than anything. They’ve taught me how to be a mother.”

The teal comet carrying Nova and her family lives on forever, its beautiful bright tail glistening in the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is the end of the story! Thank you to those who read!
> 
> (This was inspired by "Rosalina's Storybook" from "Super Mario Galaxy")

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote, rewrote and finished this awhile back. It has ten chapters. If people like this, I'll post the rest of the chapters. Thanks for reading!


End file.
